Health insurers to pay $500 million in rebates this summer

(Reuters) - U.S. insurers will pay $500 million in rebates to employers and individuals this summer because of President Barack Obama's healthcare law, about half the amount they paid last year. The law, often called Obamacare, requires companies to refund customers when they spend less than 80 percent of premiums they collect on medical care. The Department of Health and Human Services attributed the decline in rebates to insurers' adhering more closely to this requirement and to lowering premium rates for their products. The government agency said on Thursday that 8.5 million insurance customers would receive an average rebate of about $100 per family after August 1.